


What might have been

by shewasjustagirl



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: 4+1 fic, Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kissing, Lazy Mornings, M/M, Multiverse, rhink, tropetastictuesday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 02:01:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10709826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasjustagirl/pseuds/shewasjustagirl
Summary: On a lazy weekend morning, Link gets Rhett thinking about the different paths they could have taken in life and whether they'd still end up together.





	What might have been

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Tropetastic Tuesday 7: 4+1 Fic

"Rhett?"

"Mhmm?"

The two men lay tangled together in white bedsheets. Morning sunshine broke through the window and filtered onto them. Light fingertips traced up Link's arm and he shivered, pulling himself closer to the other man.

"Do you ever think about how easily things could have been different?"

"Whatcha mean, bo?" Rhett played at the dark hair on Link's chest as the smaller man eyed the ceiling.

"We got so lucky. So many things had to go right."

Rhett smiled. He loved when Link got mushy and started reminiscing. That was usually Rhett's domain. 

A set of long fingers danced across Link's jawline, turning his head toward the bigger man as Rhett pulled him into a kiss. "You gettin' romantic on me, Neal?"

"Maybe a little," Link smiled back at him, reaching to play with the curly blond hair behind his ear. "But I'm serious, too. How we met and stayed together all this time, everything had to fall together perfectly."

"Well I'll tell ya something," Rhett planted another kiss on Link's forehead. "I'm an expert in this subject, and you're wrong. We'd be right here, just like this, no matter what."

Link grinned and resisted rolling his eyes at the know-it-all air Rhett took on -- he'd gotten him going on purpose. A smile lit up Link's light blue eyes. "Okay then, tell me about it."

 

Rhett thought for a moment as he twisted his fingers in Link's dark hair. They both returned their gaze to the ceiling, falling into the story he weaved.

"We didn't meet in first grade. I never moved to Buies Creek," he began. Link clenched for his hand and Rhett chuckled before going on, giving Link's hand a quick squeeze. "We didn't meet then, but we did when you moved out here. 

"In that world, you're such a weirdo in school, even more than you were," he pinched at Link's waist with his free hand. "Much too creative and fun and beautiful for a small place like Buies Creek. 

"You make so much art and you sing in a band and record videos, and even your mama can't deny that you need to be in Los Angeles. And you don't have my dad nagging you to be practical.

"So you get here for college, UCLA -- good school, congratulations. And then, when you're taking one of those required courses for every freshman, English 301, let's say, this tall, handsome basketball star catches your eye." Link laughed and hummed, pulling their joined hands to his chest.

"And well, you catch his eye, too. And it turns out he's more artistic and nuanced than anyone else in his life knows. But you figure him out. And he becomes the subject of a bunch of your video projects."

"Oh yeah?" Link interrupted for the first time.

"Yep, you just like looking at him, I think. But you two become friends, and he ends up taking the highest level class he can in your department a couple years later. You almost don't graduate because you're not supposed to be taking classes that are open to non-majors anymore."

"He sounds like trouble," Link glanced at Rhett and smiled as he saw the wheels turning in his mind, building the narrative. 

"Oh you better believe it," Rhett grinned. "Yeah, he gets you in all kinds of trouble, especially when folks back in North Carolina find out about him. 

"By the time graduation rolls around, his back is real messed up. Did I mention he's a big man? So he's not going to the NBA, and now he's got a minor in film, just from following you around. And you two start making videos together whenever you can, after you get your first jobs."

"And then we quit after a year?"

"Yep. And the rest is history. And here you are in this bed, with me."

"I thought I was with a handsome basketball star?"

"Oof," Rhett laughed, releasing Link's hand and tickling his bare sides. 

"Uncle! Uncle! I'm kidding!" Link giggled, catching Rhett's hands against him before threading his fingers again through one of them. 

They lay there for a moment, smiling up at nothing, until Link looked back at Rhett and nuzzled his head into the blond's chest. "You said no matter what. Tell me another one."

 

"Okay, well, I'm pretty bored when I have to sit in from recess by myself on that first day of elementary school. I'm the new kid, and I'm already in trouble, so naturally you stay away from me for a while.

"But when we meet at a sleepover later that year, even though I already have a bunch of friends by then, obviously, I notice that you get my lame jokes. And your smile is so pretty and genuine." Link smiled broadly and Rhett looked down. "Yeah, that's the one."

"So over the next few years I use my reputation as a serial sleepover-er to get you to invite me over. And you're just like I think you'll be. You laugh just as freely, and you ask if I want to play pretend, and at first I don't, because it doesn't sound like a thing boys do.

"But you're creative, and you start making up voices and characters, and I get into it. And your house becomes my favorite, even though the rich kids have better food.

"I think you make sure your mama has good stuff around when I'm there, though. Because you usually just have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. But there's almost always frozen pizza and chocolate milk and a rented movie when I come over. At first your mom thinks you're trying to impress me. But she figures out we're something special pretty quick."

Link traced his fingertips down Rhett's chest and stomach. "Mm, I like that one." 

"Me too. But I like ours better," Rhett smiled.

 

"Let me try one," Link grinned, looking up at Rhett. He nodded and sat up a little on his pillow, getting a better angle to watch Link. 

"Well," he returned to teasing at Rhett's chest and stomach with gentle fingers. "We meet in detention, but what I never admit about that story is that I only wrote on my desk because I saw you doing it.

"So I'm a little mad at you for getting me in trouble, and I'm a little mad at myself for being a follower, especially because you're the new kid and I don't know you, so until recess is over I just ignore you and your terrible coloring skills." Rhett laughed, scratching his fingers into Link's scalp and earning a quiet purr. 

"It takes a long time for me to associate with you. To me you're the kid who got me in trouble in first grade. Even though I get into some tomfoolery of my own as I get older. I'm always looking for a laugh, y'know.

"But I respond to an ad to be a lead singer in a garage band - unpaid, of course - and I'm shocked when I find out Harnett Central's basketball star, the kid who got me in trouble and then I ignored for years, plays guitar in the band."

"And that's when we become friends?"

"Shh, this is my story. No, we don't become friends. We become rivals. I want to be the leader of the band, since I'm the lead singer, but you've been around longer than me and you're tall and handsome, and for some reason people are just drawn to you.

"I don't know what they see in you myself," Link smiled against Rhett's chest. "So I start learning guitar. But I'm a mess at it, and when you find me hanging around after school one day trying to tune my guitar, you offer to help.

"You say it's because you'll be a better player if you can teach guitar, too, but we both know you're extending an olive branch. So I become a little less ornery over time. We start meeting up more often for you to teach me. Pretty soon it's you I'm studying, not the guitar."

Rhett smiled, "So you don't want me to teach you now?" 

"No, a hot teacher is too big a distraction." Link winked. Then he reached up, resettling himself against the bed's headboard and pressing his lips to unkempt blond curls. He embraced the bigger man, wrapping an arm across his chest. 

 

Soon Link felt Rhett breathe out a deep sigh and his heart rate quicken. "What is it, baby?"

"One more. We still end up here, just a more roundabout way." Link nodded, taking one of his hands and urging him to go on. 

"Well, we grow up in Buies Creek, and there's a lot expected of a man down there." 

"Mhmm."

"So we're best friends after we meet in first grade, but in middle school and high school we start dating girls."

"Okay..."

"We go to college and get engineering degrees, just like we did, but we're feeling the pressure to be normal, you know? And you want babies, and I know I can't give them to you, so I encourage you to get married."

"Oh, Rhett..."

Rhett pressed on, determined to think this one through. "You end up with a tall blond, of course. She's beautiful, inside and out. And I marry a short brunette. She's the only one I can lean on when I lose you, and I fall in love with her too.

"But that doesn't stop us from getting together on the weekends and whenever we can to make videos and sing and try to do comedy. We start getting paid to do commercials and videos for brands, and the girls encourage us to pursue our dreams full time."

"Are you going to make us break their hearts?"

"I don't know yet. We're best friends for years, building our business and raising our families, and moving out here to California. But then we start writing Buddy System. And we rent this place." 

Rhett looked around at the room, with its tall ceilings and simple, elegant moulding. One wall was paneled with reclaimed wood. Someone had done a lot of work making this place a perfect weekend getaway. 

"And we're in this house up on a hill, away from everyone, and we're being creative, and it's our big chance to write scripted comedy, and we end up here, right here in this bed. I don't know if we break their hearts or if they know. But I know we end up here. In every possible universe."

 

Link pulled Rhett in tighter as deep grey eyes turned on him. "I still like our story best, bo." He reached for a quick kiss before returning to scrutinize Rhett's furrowed brow. "Shh, it's okay."

Rhett brushed his thumb against Link's jawline, searching his eyes. "You don't wish you'd gotten a chance to do that? To have a life without me?"

Link smiled gently, shaking his head. "Rhett. I love you. In every universe. And I wouldn't change a thing about ours."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks in advance for any kudos and comments! They mean a lot to me.
> 
> And come find me on [Tumblr](http://clemwasjustagirl.tumblr.com/) if you're into that kind of thing!


End file.
